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Robots are to assemble fuel cell stacks in a new research project at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, N.Y., that aims to tackle the challenge of mass production.

"It is currently common to take as long as a full day to assemble and leak-test a single stack," says Stephen Derby, codirector of Rensselaer's Flexible Manufacturing Center (FMC). "To be commercially viable, stack assembly must be accomplished in minutes, not hours."

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The project, which will combine the resources of FMC and the Center for Automation Technologies and Systems (CATS), was recently supported with a major research equipment award from the Robotics Industries Association (RIA). …

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